Cute only gets you so far in the real world. Capturing the glee of victory and the sting of defeat, this hilariously illustrated rhyming book lets us laugh at our own (and our little sibling’s) attempts to prove otherwise.

Delightfully flippant dialogue and dark, stylized illustrations laced with familiar, fun-to-find details take us on a hilarious journey through the forest of fairy tales in this quest for missing marital bliss.

No wizards, no potty-talk, no cell phones, no cynicism just four smart sisters, their dad, their schemes, their dog, their neighbours, their ideas and interactions yet our girls squealed, shrieked, jumped up and jabbered after almost every sentence. I’m not sure what it is, but The Penderwicks on Gardam Street has it.

On August 30, 2006, we published episode 22 of Just One More Book!! It was a review of a permanent family favourite, Sleeping Dragons All Around, written by Sheree Fitch and illustrated by Michele Nidenoff. We would learn, shortly afterward, that the book was out of print.

We’ve become friendly with Sheree since we interviewed her for episode 54 published on November 13, 2006 and we’ve always told her how disappointed we were that Sleeping Dragons and some of her other fabulous children’s books, were no longer available.

Not for long.

As it turns out, the 20th anniversary of Sleeping Dragons All Around will be celebrated on January 25, 2009, with the re-release of the book. And guess what’s printed on the dust jacket. Our Just One More Book!! blog blurb from that August 30, 2006 book chat:

How cool is that?

This is the first of a two-part series about Sleeping Dragons All Around. In this part, we replay our original review of Sleeping Dragons, complete with questionable recording quality. Part two will be released on Monday, December 15, 2008 and will feature a new interview with Sheree about the new edition and a story of how Sleeping Dragons All Around has made an impact.

There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very, very good and when she wasn’t, well, you didn’t know what hit you — and you never saw it coming, and then suddenly she was good again. And, of course, you love her anyway.

This playfully illustrated confession of an all too familiar Jekyll and Hyde youngster invites us to look at, and laugh at, our many-sided selves.